Patna plays out nail-biting 32-32 tie with Puneri
Patna regrouped well and its raiders, led by captain Sachin, targeted Puneri’s cover defenders to reduce the deficit. At the halfway mark, the visiting team led 19-14.
Puneri Paltan's Aslam Inamdar goes for a raid against Patna Pirates
PATNA: Patna Pirates made a stunning comeback and nearly scripted a fantastic win, but fell short at the very last raid as it played out a 32-32 tie with Puneri Paltan in the Pro Kabaddi League match in Patna on Saturday. Puneri Paltan skipper Aslam Inamdar (13 points), Patna Pirates captain Sachin (9 raid points) and Mayur Kadam (5 tackle points) were the key performers of the match.
Patna came into the game on the back of a superb win over Bengal Warriors but was unable to ride the momentum in the early stages of the game as it was at the receiving end of the first ALL OUT. Puneri’s three-man raiding unit of Aslam Inamdar, Mohit Goyat and Pankaj Mohite chipped away at the home team’s defence and a tackle from Gaurav Khatri on Manjeet in the 10th minute gave the men in orange an 11-6 lead.
Patna regrouped well and its raiders, led by captain Sachin, targeted Puneri’s cover defenders to reduce the deficit. At the halfway mark, the visiting team led 19-14.
The home side got off to a strong start in the second half and a multi-point raid from Sachin had the opposition down to 3 men, but Puneri defended with great vigour to keep the ALL OUT at bay. However, a mistake from Sanket Sawant saw the side from Pune down to 3 men once again and Patna sniffed a comeback. With 10 minutes left in the game, it trailed Puneri by just 3 points at 23-20.
That was when Sachin produced a jaw-dropping raid. The captain got past all 3 defenders in sublime fashion to inflict the ALL OUT and put his side in the lead for the first time in the game. With 9 minutes to go, Patna led 25-24.
The two teams were locked at 27 points before Patna upped the ante and went ahead at 30-27 with less than 4 minutes left. Mayur continued his rich vein of form as he brought up a second consecutive High 5 with a stellar tackle on Pankaj Mohite. Puneri mounted a comeback in the dying stages of the game and Patna led 32-31 with just the final raid left, but Manjeet fell short of the bonus line and was tackled as both sides shared the points.